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This
week we open with reactions to the new format of The E-Sylum. In other NBS
news, we discuss the balloting for the Greatest American Numismatic
Literature survey. Book announcements and reviews this week include books
on the Westmoreland Collection of Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms,
Coins and Tokens from the Island of Jersey, and Walking Liberty Half
Dollars.

In responses from previous issues, Alan Weinberg discusses
unusual marks on some 1794 dollars. Also, Roger Urce and Joe Boling noted
that a newspaper article mistakenly referred to Steve "Fellers", but his
name is actually "Feller" (sorry I didn’t pick up on this)!

In the
news, the ANS has been ordered to return the Huntington collection to the
Hispanic Society of America, Stack's will be auctioning branch mint gold
coins recovered from the 1846 wreck of the steam ship New York, and mining
interests in Montana managed to insert a requirement for palladium coins
into the recent U.S. Mint legislation.

To learn what hairspray and
the cascabels of two old cannons have to do with numismatics, read on.
Have a great week, everyone.

The move to our new format has been in the works for some
time, but last week was the first time most readers saw it. Responses have
been overwhelmingly positive, and we're moving forward with the all-HTML
format beginning this week. Many thanks for your comments and suggestions,
some of which have been incorporated into this issue.

A couple
things were broken in the test issue last week, and these should be fixed
now: links in the table of contents should now work for more people, and
we're doing a better job of handling special characters like single quotes
and accents. -Editor]

Ken Berger: "WOW !!!"

Denis Loring: "It's gorgeous!"

David Lisot: "Looks great! Good job on the new format!"

David Cassel: I like your new formatting. It's great!"

Jack Howes: The new format is very nice -- elegant even! I am very
impressed.

Dick Johnson writes: "The new format is fantastic!
Illustrations in color greatly add to the interest and importance of the
text. Excellent choice of type face and size for easy reading. I like the
narrower column but it does make paragraphs longer - break up some of
those long paragraphs. The content list with bullets makes it easy to
click on and jump right to the desired article for a second reading or
later reference. I still want to read straight through from beginning to
end the first time, however. All in all you have achieved a milestone in
numismatic communication, Wayne. Great job!"

David Palmer writes:
"The new E-Sylum is great! The new format is somewhat easier on the eye,
and pictures too! Thank you for all your efforts - I enjoy reading it
every week."

Larry Gaye writes: "Kudos on the new format, though I
will miss the old. The change seems similar to the typewriter being
replaced by the computer. Thank goodness the keys are still the same and
the printed word will win out. Nice Job."

Some readers couldn't resist commenting on my picture.
-Editor

Howard Berlin writes: "I like the new format and the mug
shot. Now I know what you look like and what to aim for!"

Donn
Pearlman writes: "Congratulations on the verrrrrrry impressive new format
for The E-Sylum. I have to be careful now because you are using
illustrations, and my mug shot might appear in a future issue."

Not everyone was happy - some email clients are picky about
images, or just don't handle HTML as well as others. But most of these
folks are on board regardless. -Editor

Michael J. Connor writes:
"Apart from the fact that I prefer to read simple text, some e-mail
systems (including mine) do horrible renderings of HTML."

Dan Demeo
writes: "Thunderbird doesn't like any messages with images, have to click
a button to see them, I can do that. The new message is 50%+ larger, 113kB
vs. 69kB, couple of megabytes over the course of a year, not really of any
consequence to those of us who archive our own copies of the
E-Sylum.

"All in all, I guess the sexy new format outweighs the
disadvantages. Who am I to stand in the way of progress?"

The messages are larger because they contain within them
BOTH plain text and HTML versions. Which version you view is a function of
the settings on your email reader. Typically there is an option to "View
as plain text" or "View as HTML"

To view the issue on the web, you
could subscribe to The E-Sylum RSS feed. We've offered this format for a
while, and several subscribers use it. It will be more prominent when we
complete the upgrade of the NBS web site. The address for our XML feed is
http://www.coinbooks.org/feed.xml

Scott Semans writes: "I'm
using Mac OS9.1 and old software, so I'll just deal with it - my cross to
bear!"

Granvyl Hulse writes: "At present I am working with Windows
98 and two tin cans and a piece of string for a link so your new version
of The E-Sylum does not come through as it should. I'll have to stick with
the older set up until the IRS sends me my rebate and I can get a new
computer. Hopefully I will be in the 21st century later this
summer."

Saul Teichman writes: "I prefer the original format. Lotus
Notes email, at least with the settings I have really wraps the text
tightly so that it wastes much of the screens available space. It is
easier to read in the old format."

[We're working with the designers to see if we can better
utilize the screen space. With technology sometimes things that you'd
think would be easy can be hard. -Editor]

[As expected, the ballots for the Numismatic Bibliomania
Society's survey of numismatic literature has generated much comment.
-Editor]

Joe Boling writes: "Paper money is given exceedingly short
shrift. For instance, how can Criswell, whose numbering system is used for
a whole class of American collectibles, not have been
mentioned?"

Len Augsburger writes: "After we published the
candidate list in The Asylum, a lot of people wrote in with suggestions,
nearly all of which we were able to accommodate. No problem with write-ins
or combining entries, do the best you can and we'll do the same on this
side."

As to how to think of this exercise, David Gladfelter
writes: "Assume you are a historical society curator or librarian who is
being downsized. The trustees are making you sell off most of the
numismatic library to raise money so they can install computers and be
relevant to the modern generation. What you save, you have to rank in
importance, 1 to 100, so the next wave of downsizing won't wipe out the
heart of the collection. You must keep what your standards of
curatorship/librarianship require you to keep, not your pet
favorites."

Fred Reed writes: "I got my ballot for the NBS “2008
Survey of the 100 Greatest Works of U.S. Numismatic Literature” this week,
and spent several enjoyable hours weighing the alternatives. I’ve run
beauty contests like this before, and I congratulate those involved in
preparing the listing which was a lot of work, and especially those with
the chore of tabulating ballots, which will no doubt be onerous, too. What
these kinds of contests do generally is generate a great deal of debate,
so let the discussion begin ...

"While I am delighted to see my
“Civil War Encased Stamps: the Issuers and their Times” on the list, I am
amazed at how much the works selected appear to reveal the collecting
biases of the compilers. For example, very few paper money works are
included, and several of the paper money works that are listed are VERY
suspect. The Society of Paper Money Collectors awarding winning journal
“Paper Money,” which is in its 47th year of publication is not listed
either.

"I agree with Alan Weinberg about the Sullivan-DeWitt
book. I’ve filled out my ballot, and although nothing was said of
write-ins, my ballot contains 24 worthy volumes that weren’t on the
official ballot. We’ll see how they tabulate. Here they are:

Fricke, Collecting Confederate Paper Money

Paper Money (SPMC journal), 1961-date

Smythe, Schingoethe Sales, 14 parts

Krause and Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins

Bank Note Reporter (Criswell, Sheheen, Krause)

Hessler, The Engravers Line

Pick and Krause, Standard Catalog of World Paper Money

Hessler, The International Engravers Line

Criswell, Confederate and Southern States Currency

Kelly, National Bank Notes

Schwan and Boling, World War II Remembered

Huntoon, US Large Size National Bank Notes

Mihm, A National of Counterfeiters

Kolbe, Ford Sale, 2 parts

Smith, American Numismatic Biographies

Swiatek and Breen, Encyclopedia of US Silver and Gold Commemorative
Coins

Len Augsburger adds: "I've
received 24 ballots so far. In case any readers were wondering, the
ballots can be folded and returned in the enclosed envelope for regular
(42 cents) postage. Let's keep them coming!"

David Fanning forwarded this press release on his firm's
first numismatic literature auction sale, to be held this fall.
Congratulations! The numismatic literature field is heating up with a
number of old and new players issuing price lists and running auctions.
It's a great time to be collecting.

David F. Fanning Numismatic
Literature has announced that the firm will be conducting its first
auction this fall. The sale will include a wide variety of material on
ancient, medieval, foreign and U.S. numismatics, and will feature a number
of rare and important works. Selected highlights include:

Important European catalogues including the Jeronimo Vries
catalogues of the 1847 Van Gelder sale

a bound volume of very early J. Schulman sales

Hess’s 1891-1892 Reimmann sale

several Ars Classica sales

Several 19th-century U.S. works on counterfeit detection

Winslow Howard’s heavily annotated copy of the 1855 Kline sale

A large paper copy of Hickcox on the paper money of New York

Copy number 1 of Hough on Washingtonia, published by Woodward

An original Crosby in a Nova Constellatio binding

A fine leather-bound set of Loubat

A number of 19th-century American auction sales with photographic
plates, including a plated copy of the 1886 Maris sale

The second edition of De Knight on U.S. currency

A plated copy of Elder’s 1908 Gschwend sale

A plated copy of the Malcolm N. Jackson sale (US Coin Co., 1913)

While the exact date of the sale has not been set, it is
expected to take place this fall. A printed catalogue will be issued and
copies will be sent to established customers and to those requesting a
copy. Select consignments are being accepted for this or future mail bid
sales or fixed price catalogues.

Ian Stevens of The David Brown Book Company
writes: "We have just become the distributor for a book published by the
Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies, who are based at
Macquarie University.

"The book, which appeared at the end of 2007,
has just arrived in stock. Esylum readers may be interested to know about
it."

Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms: The Westmoreland
Collection by K A Sheedy, with essays by K A Sheedy, A B Bosworth, E J
Baynham and J Melville Jones

This lavishly-produced catalogue
presents one of the finest collections of Hellenistic coins in Australia.
The enlarged pictures are designed to allow close inspection of detail,
for the serious collector, but is also suitable for those who have a more
general interest in all things 'Alexander'. 172p, col photos of all 87
coins (Ancient Coins in Australian Collections 1, Australian Centre for
Ancient Numismatic Studies 2007)

NBS Member Richard Jozefiak submitted the following review
of "Some Notes and Observations Concerning the pre-decimal Coins and
Tokens from the Island of Jersey" by Harold Fears. -Editor

I had the pleasure of reviewing a new book,
Some Notes and Observations Concerning The pre-decimal Coins and Tokens
from the Island of Jersey, by Harold Fears (copyright 2008). This book
is the work and study of many years on the coins and tokens of the Island
of Jersey issued from 1812-1966. The book will become the standard
reference for coin collectors of Island of Jersey pre-decimal coins and
tokens.

The Island of Jersey is one of the Channel Islands,
located off the coast of France between France and England. The Island of
Jersey belongs to the British Crown. Being close to France, the money used
on the island has been influenced by both French and British
coinage.

Mr. Fears is an expert on Jersey coinage, and has prepared
a detailed book of his research. The 321 page color book has excellent
pictures, and there are pictures on most pages. The pictures are of high
quality. He used 1200 psi for the scanned coins, and 2400 psi of
photographs for die identification.

Coins in the book are
cross-referenced with “KM “numbers (from Krause-Mishler’s Standard Catalog
of World Coins) numbers and “J” numbers (from McMammon’s Currencies of the
Anglo Norman Isles). There is also an extensive bibliography.

The
first part of the book covers the tokens and coins issued for the Island
of Jersey beginning in 1812. Tokens were issued in 1812, 1813 and 1814.
Pre-decimal coins were first issued in 1841, and ended in 1966. Coins were
not issued every year, but as needed for commerce on the island. The
pictures of the coins are enlarged so that it is easy to see the beautiful
details.

The second part of the book covers die varieties of the
coins. This section is for a specialist who wants to identify the many
different die varieties. Mr. Fears calls this section “Rapid Die
Identifier” and provides detailed, enlarged photographs of the different
die varieties and die pairings that make identification of a coin
easy.

Throughout the book, there are stories of interesting facts
and history of the island, coinage, Jersey banknotes, and British
monarchs. It is interesting to read about why the coins were issued in a
particular year, and the needs of the people on the island.

How to
order book: Available only on www.Lulu.com Lulu ID number is: 2124163
Cost: $69.99 for paperback, coil binding, full-color interior, 321
pages

Uriah Cho of Zyrus Press forwarded the following
information about the company's new title on Walking Liberty Half Dollars.
-Editor

The second book of the “Strategy Guide Series,”
Collecting and Investing Strategies for Walking Liberty Half Dollars is
the perfect tool for the collector or investor of Walking Liberty Half
Dollars.

As the only book available on the subject today, Ambio
completely reevaluates the Walking Liberty Half Dollar series in light of
profound changes in the market during the past 20 years.

Following
a classic date-by-date analyses of each Business Strike from 1916-1947 and
Proof Issues from 1936-1942, this book provides vital information on
strike, luster, rarity analysis, pricing data, prices realized and
significant examples.

Each section concludes with Ambio’s
trademark “Collecting and Investing Strategies,” which provides invaluable
tips and insights into how and what to buy.

Order this book before
June 1st and receive FREE SHIPPING! Order online at www.zyruspress.com,
Amazon.com or call us at 888-622-7823 to reserve your copy today!

Published by Zyrus Press, Inc. of Irvine, California
(www.zyruspress.com)

Publication Date: 5/15/2008

Binding / Size: Paperback / 7” x 10”

Pages: 200

Photos / Illustrations: 150+ b+w images

ISBN-10: 1-933990-17-1

ISBN-13: 978-1-933990-17-0

Suggested Retail Price: $29.95

Contact: PO Box 17810, Irvine, California 92623.

Phone: (888) 622-7823.

E-mail: info@zyruspress.com.

Ambio's book may be the only one on Walking Liberty Half
Dollars currently in print, but it's not the only book on the topic. I
pulled these from the shelf next to me as I wrote this. I'd be curious to
learn what readers think of the new book. -Editor.

Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics at Princeton
University, will give the final two curatorial tours of the exhibit
“Numismatics in the Renaissance” at the Firestone Library on Friday, May
30 at 2 p.m. and Sunday, June 1 at 3 p.m. The exhibit will remain on view
in Firestone’s Main Exhibit Hall through July 20.

The exhibition
includes rare fifteenth- and sixteenth-century volumes from Princeton’s
Rare Books Division that discuss and illustrate ancient coins, and a
display of some of the treasures of the Library's Numismatic Collection,
featuring gold, silver, and bronze coins of Greece and Rome, as well as
coins and medals of the Renaissance that were inspired by them. The
exhibition also includes manuscripts, prints, and drawings from Princeton
University collections and Pirro Ligorio's monumental map of ancient Rome,
made in 1561.

Although ancient coins were found throughout the
Mediterranean region in the millennium following the end of the Roman
Empire, it was only in Renaissance Europe that they began to be studied
systematically; reproductions appear in some of the earliest printed books
to carry engraved illustrations. The Princeton collection is particularly
rich in these impressive examples of early printing, ranging from the 1517
edition of Andrea Fulvio's Images of the Illustrious, with its highly
decorated settings of each coin image, through Hubert Goltzius's
large-scale chiaroscuro reproductions of imperial portraits of the 1550s,
to Antonio Augustín's late sixteenth-century systematic classification of
ancient coinage and guidelines for detecting counterfeits.

The role
that the study of ancient coins played in Renaissance culture is
illustrated through the display of art works of the period that depict
objects of classical antiquity, most notably a drawing by Parmigianino in
the collection of the Princeton University Art Museum with an image of the
goddess Minerva apparently derived from one on Roman coins. Selected
Renaissance coins and medals will highlight the efforts of rulers of the
period to present themselves in the guise of ancient leaders. Coin imagery
in Renaissance literature will be shown by the pairing of Tudor coins with
early editions of Shakespeare's history plays, which are particularly rich
in puns on coin names and details.

"Numismatics in the Renaissance"
is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. to
5 p.m., plus Wednesday evenings until 7:45 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays
from noon to 5 p.m.

The ANA is seeking Numismatic Theatre presenters for the
Baltimore convention. I'd reckon that a majority of presenters at most
conventions are also E-Sylum readers. Share your knowledge! -Editor

All American Numismatic Association members are invited to share
their expertise and imagination with fellow hobbyists by delivering a
Numismatic Theatre presentation at the Baltimore World's Fair of Money®,
July 30 to Aug. 3.

Numismatic Theatre consists of presentations on
a wide variety of topics. It's a wonderful opportunity for collectors to
communicate their ideas and research with the numismatic community. The
talks are an educational highlight of every ANA convention, and often
focus on a wide range of topics including themes pertaining to a
convention's host city.

ANA members interested in giving a Numismatic Theatre
presentation can download a proposal form at www.money.org (select
"World's Fair of Money" from the "Numismatic Events" scroll down menu,
then select the "Education" tab and click on "Numismatic Theatre").
Applicants can either mail proposals to American Numismatic Association,
818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903 or fax them to
719-634-4085. Proposals must be received by June 20.

Debbie Bradley of F+W Publications forwarded the program
lineup for Coin Chat Radio May 15-21. -Editor

Features of this
week's "Collecting Money" at coinchatradio.com include an "In the News"
report by Coins magazine editor Bob Van Ryzin on the rise in U.S. Mint
issue prices for the 2008 proof platinum American Eagles; an Industry
Insider interview by Numismatics Editorial Director Debbie Bradley with
B.J. Searls, Set Registry Manager for the Professional Coin Grading
Service;

Auction news in "Going Once" with Bank Note Reporter
Editor Dave Kranz; news of recent world coin issues in "Freshly Minted"
with Online Editor Lisa Bellavin; a look at Josh Tatum and the Racketeer
nickel in "Talking Type and Beyond" with Bob Van Ryzin; and an "On the
Club Scene" interview by Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper with Florida
United Numismatists Convention Coordinator Cindy Wibker about the upcoming
Summer FUN Convention.

Past shows can also be accessed in the
Archives on the Web site. Coin Chat Radio is brought to you by Krause
Publications.

Concerning the 1794 dollar addressed in last
week's E-Sylum, Alan V. Weinberg writes: "I recently considered for
acquisition and closely examined the Eliasberg 1794 dollar in PCGS slabbed
EF-45. I noticed a number of obverse "pin pricks" - somewhat shallow,
slightly angled Stylus point- like pricks in the silver metal. I recall
them only on the obverse. I wondered about these. I discussed the
phenomenon with noted early dollar expert Dave Perkins and he had no
explanation but vaguely recalled seeing such marks on a few other early
dollars.

"Comes the Goldberg pre-Long Beach May 25-27 auction
catalogue and I note lot 4000- a decent-appearing 1794 dollar NCS graded
Details of VF 20 . By golly! The exact same obverse -only surface pin
pricks, identical in depth and nature to the Eliasberg coin's but this
time more numerous. The Goldberg catalogue's only reference to these
surface pricks is "small obverse marks". I'd surmise that the slightly
greater number of these marks on this dollar resulted in NCS grading this
coin whereas the Eliasberg dollar made it into a PCGS holder.

"I
wonder about these identical sharp pointed, slightly angled "jabs" in the
metal surface on only 1794 dollars. Can anyone enlighten the hobby? My
best guess is early on in the US Mint the 1794 dollars were struck and
then shunted aside by some counting/sorting device with sharp points like
a large fork. And that the Mint quickly substituted the device when the
surface damage was noted. Or a similar device at an early central counting
bank which, when noting the damage done to the country's then greatest
coin, quickly abandoned the device.

"To the best of my knowledge,
these marks do not appear on dollars later than 1794 nor on early halves.
Why?

"One other hypothesis occurred to me relating to the sharp
surface punctures on the Eliasberg and Goldberg dollars: that this was
done by some ignorant fool in the 1790's with a knife and too much time on
his hands. But this can be discounted - what are the odds of two such 1794
dollars still existing? And, more importantly, if these surface jabs were
done by a vandal with a knife point, why isn't there any evidence on
either dollar of a slip with the knife and some deep accidental gouges or
scratches? No, this surface damage was done mechanically, and only on 1794
dollars."

Several weeks ago The E-Sylum covered the conflict between
the American Numismatic Society and the Hispanic Society of America over
control of a collection of some 37,000 Spanish coins formed by Archer
Huntington. I hadn't seen much coverage of this but Coin World's May 19th
issue reported that the judge in the case has ordered the ANS to return
the collection. Here are some excerpts from the April 25, 2008 judgement
(available on the New York State Court's web site).

Defendant is
obligated to return the Coin Collection, Photographic Materials and other
identifying information to Plaintiffs, having ordered that Defendant is
permanently enjoined and ordered to return the Coin Collection,
Photographic Materials and other identifying information to
Plaintiffs...

Judgment is hereby entered for Plaintiffs, The
Hispanic Society of America and The Board of Trustees of The Hispanic
Society of America, against Defendant, The American Numismatic Society,
Inc.

Defendant shall accord Sotheby’s, Inc. (“Sotheby’s”) and such
experts, specialists and technicians as Sotheby’s may designate in writing
to both Defendant and Plaintiffs the unimpeded right to inspect, identify,
verify, separate and value the coins comprising the Coin Collection (the
“Tasks”) at the premises of Defendant at 96 Fulton Street, New York, New
York

The court document and Coin World article say nothing about
the Hispanic Society's intentions for the collection. Sotheby's is
presented as a third-party expert who will ensure that the entire
collection is handed over, but nothing is said of what HSA will do with
it. Is a Sothebys auction in the works? -Editor.

Dave Bowers forwarded this article from the Mississippi Sun
Herald. The article discusses rare gold coins salvaged from the wreck of a
steamship sunk in 1846. Stack's will be auctioning the coins in New York.
-Editor

A steamship that sank off the Louisiana coast during an 1846
storm has produced a trove of rare gold coins, including some produced at
two, mostly forgotten U.S. mints in the South, coin experts
say.

Last year, four Louisiana residents salvaged hundreds of gold
coins and thousands of silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York
in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, said David Bowers,
co-chairman of Stack's Rare Coins in New York.

"Some of these are
in uncirculated or mint condition," Bowers said, predicting the best could
bring $50,000 to $100,000 each at auction.

Those coins were struck
at mints in New Orleans; Charlotte, N.C.; and Dahlonega, Ga. The Charlotte
and Dahlonega mints operated from 1838, when the first significant U.S.
gold deposits were found in those areas, until the start of the Civil War
in 1861, said Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic
Association's Money Museum in Denver. Neither mint ever
reopened.

The New York was a 165-foot sidewheel steamer built in
its namesake city in 1837. By 1846, it was making regular commercial runs
between Galveston, Texas and New Orleans. A storm took the ship to the
bottom, killing 17 of the 53 people aboard. The other 36 were
rescued.

A group of four hobbyists, who enjoyed looking for sunken
vessels in the Gulf, discovered what was left of the SS New York around
1990. After several trips in the ensuing years and bringing up a handful
of coins at a time from the mud that virtually covered the ship, the four
invested in a full-scale salvage operation in 2007.

John Albanese,
a rare coin dealer in Far Hills, N.J. since 1978, appraised about 200 of
the gold coins. "This is the most impressive Southern-minted gold I've
seen in my lifetime," he said.

Web site visitor Chisum Whorton of Texas writes: "I came across
your article regarding the gold found at the A.L. Bain ranch on
www.coinbooks.org. A.L. Bain was my great grandfather. I have heard many
stories regarding this through my grand mother over the years. I had
thought they had said much of the gold was taken when it was found, but
several pieces were kept. It has been many years but I remember seeing
some of these as a child. Any information you could send would be of great
interest.

I put Chisum in touch with Dave Ginsburg who wrote the
E-Sylum article. He's been researching the 1947 discovery of $1,775 in
gold coins on the farm in Kerens, TX (which is about 70 miles southeast of
Dallas). -Editor

R.
J. Hammond of Bethlehem, PA writes: "I wish to thank you (and David Lange)
for the tidbit about Lulu.com, Thomas Moll, and his other publications. Of
interest to me is Thomas Moll's book concerning Coin Holders/Folders from
the 1950's through the 1960's. Of greater interest to me though, is his
array of Pennsylvania German genealogical booklets, of which I purchased
his first offering in 2001.

"As an aside, I went to his house,
which is near me, to purchase it. Since then, he has either moved or
become reclusive (he never answers the door). I could acquire his other
publications, since contact was been interrupted.

"Back to
Lulu.com. I've now ordered his other Pennsylvania German booklets to add
to my growing library (over 5000 books, pamphlets, and other ephemera).
So...Thanks!"

David Sundman forwarded the following article from BBC
news. Another print newspaper bites the dust. -Editor

Mayor Boris
Johnson has scrapped the Londoner newspaper in a move his office claims
will save £2.9m. The Londoner, a freesheet, was distributed to three
million homes across the city.

Up to £1m of the saving will be
used to fund the planting of 10,000 new trees in London's most deprived
areas, says Mr Johnson. The mayor aims to have all the new trees planted
by the start of the 2012 Olympic Games.

Howard Berlin writes: "I will be in Chicago to see Number 1
son and a few coin museums after the ANA convention and a few days later
I'll be off to Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Londinium. I plan to see the coin
collection at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the
Hunterian Gallery collection in Glasgow.

I will also be off to
Manchester, Liverpool and London again in November. Next year's trips
currently include Berlin (again), and Israel (again) with possibilities to
visit numismatic museums in Doha, Qatar and Vienna, especially if the euro
drops. Havana is also a definite maybe either for '09 or '10."

John Regitko of Canada writes: "The article about an Ontario
bakery honor system reminds me of the time two of my school chums and I
drove through the Province of Quebec on vacation and were faced with the
honor system when we decided not to eat at the restaurant all the time but
purchase cold cuts and a loaf of bread.

"In one instance, as we
were driving along the road, we noticed a sign (in French and English)
stating that bread was for sale up the driveway. We drove in and noticed
that the covered loafs were lying on a table outside with a note asking us
to drop $1 in a wooden box that had a slot on top. I wondered how many
times someone had the temptation not just to “forget” to pay, but actually
walking off with the whole box of money that couldn’t have weighed more
than a couple of pounds.

"The other instance, we were again
directed to the farm house on a country road, but this time there was a
sign on the entrance to the house stating that the bread was inside. We
walked in, shouted “hello” to attract someone’s attention. We saw loafs of
bread on the table, along with a small cardboard box which contained $7.
When nobody came, we took two loafs of bread, paid $2 and left, wondering
if the next person would be tempted to take the $9 cash.

"Since
this appeared to be a common occurrence, I can only assume that there are
a lot of honest people out there!"

On Tuesday evening I went to the monthly meeting on my Northern
Virginia numismatic social club, Nummis Nova. Our host was Chris Neuzil
who made a reservation at the Jasmine Cafe restaurant in Lake Anne Plaza
in Reston. My son Tyler's Little League baseball game had been cancelled
due to field conditions, so I was able to arrive on time around
6:30.

The first member I saw was Roger Burdette, who was waiting
near the fountain. We discussed the architecture of the plaza, which was
built as a showcase planned community. In his RSVP for the meeting Tom
Kays, a "NoVa native" wrote: "I remember when they built Reston and even
visited once back in 1968 to look around. I remember a lake. Do you
suppose much has changed since then? Will I recognize the place and
appreciate the genius of planned communityhood?"

Well, the
community's still there but to Roger and I it didn't look like a work of
genius. It looked dated (early 70s was my guess) and felt sluggish. The
plaza was as nearly still as the water on the "lake", which was more of a
big concrete reflecting pond. Later that evening one of the group said it
looked like communist East Berlin.

There was activity though,
probably not bad for a Tuesday night. Shops and restaurants were open,
some with outdoor seating and at least one with live music. No big crowds,
though. One of the lessons learned from these planned communities is that
if the shopping areas are hidden from the road as this one was, you can't
count on people beating a path to the door. I've been in this area for two
years and never knew it was there. But the isolation worked to our
advantage - plenty of seats and little noise in the restaurant (The
Jasmine Café).

While we were talking I spotted Julian Leidman
rounding the corner across the plaza, with his trademark magnifiers still
clipped to his glasses. We walked over to the restaurant and Chris and the
rest of the gang were already there. Tom Kays was sick and had to cancel,
so he'll have to take our word that the lake is still there.

Rounding out the group were Joe Levine, Dave Schenkman, Wayne
Herndon and Traci Poole. Traci was Wayne's guest - a former ANACS
employee, Traci now lives in Virginia and works for Wayne in his coin
business.

Chris' theme for the evening was "Your best or most
memorable (not necessarily most remunerative) numismatic 'find.' From
circulation, cherrypicked, metal detector, or however." He passed out
copies of his article How Lucky Can You Get? from the October 2002
Numismatist. He and fellow collector Lenny Vaccaro purchased two rare and
valuable silver U.S. Mint medals commemorating heroes of the War of 1812
on eBay for a fraction of their typical selling price.

Dave
Schenkman recalled a deal where a gentleman who'd changed his collecting
focus practically insisted on trading high-grade U.S. Colonial coins to
Dave in exchange for saloon tokens.

Julian Leidman told the tale
of a collector in Mexico who contacted him with a group of British coins
to sell. One piece seemed special and the man shipped it to Julian, who
took it to a Long Beach show and sold it on the man's behalf for $200,000
- it was a bronze denarium of Maryland.

Roger Burdette remembered
his adventure as a young collector when a bank in his area was offering to
sell five silver dollars for face value as a promotion, one set to a
customer. One of his five was an 1893-S, worth $3,000 today. Dave added
that in the 1950s (before the Treasury hoard was released) he bought a
1903-O Morgan dollar through a banker who lived across the street from
him.

I told about the time when my wife asked what I'd done that
day and I said I'd made $2,000 in the bathroom. I was passing time reading
Coin World and noticed a rare U.S. encased postage stamp worth over $2,000
at the time being offered for $250. I raced to the phone and called the
dealer who insisted on letting me have it for $225 "because in was in last
week's ad at that price and it didn't sell." The piece arrived in fine
shape and was sold in 2006 along with the rest of my EPS collection for
about $7,000.

Joe Levine recalled his days as a student when he'd
get bags of nickels or half dollars from the Treasury and sort through
them for better coins to sell, making $20 or more a week - good money in
those days. When the Treasury began its silver dollar release in 1962-63,
Joe worked as a go-fer for Phil Lampkin of the Washington Coin Exchange
helping to haul bags of silver dollars (going up and down flights of
stairs to Phil's office, where the bags were opened and examined). Lampkin
would buy 10-15 bags at a time, often making $300 on each. Dealer Ben
Douglas was the talk of the hobby after finding he'd bought a bag of
Liberty Seated dollars for face value.

Joe raised $12,000 from
relatives, hired an off-duty cop for security and borrowed a car to buy
bags of his own. He found a bag of 1882-Os, and Phil sold them for him.
Phil scored a bag of 1883-CCs. Joe remembers the coins stacked in piles of
twenty on Phil's desk. After making calls to Harry Forman and several
other dealers across the country, Phil sold them all without affecting the
price.

Joe remembered how one dealer from Georgia arrived at the
Treasury with a long tractor-trailer and loaded it up with 200-300 bags of
dollars, only to discover too late that another dealer had already checked
and returned the bags, marking them with a small "x".

One of Traci
Poole's better finds happened just that afternoon, when her order of ten
silver 2008 eagles arrived from the U.S. Mint - all ten had the reverse of
2007.

Wayne Herndon passed around two interesting pieces he picked
up at shows recently - an unrecorded original "Bo" Hobo nickel, and a
Morgan dollar whose obverse was recarved into an image of Buffalo Bill
Cody. Other topics covered in conversation included activities at ANS,
Heritage and Stack's. New books held the spotlight for a few minutes:
Julian Leidman mentioned George Fuld's revised manuscript on Washington
items, and Joe Levine discussed Bill Swoger's book on National
Commemorative medals.

It was another pleasant evening of numismatic
discussion - great companionship, and great stories. I was already looking
forward to next month. I got back to my parked car and managed to wind my
way through the maze back to the main road, leaving the secret shopping
plaza behind.

Buried in the recent coinage legislation before Congress is
a bid to boost palladium consumption by requiring it as a coinage medal.
There was an article about it this week in the Great Falls Tribune.

Pending legislation requiring the government to mint a $20 coin with
palladium mined domestically would put Montana front and
center.

The state has the nation's only palladium mine. Stillwater
Mining Co. operates it near Nye, north of Yellowstone National
Park.

Two bills, one in the U.S. House and one in the Senate, would
require the Mint to reproduce a $20 coin released in 1907 as a gold piece.
Palladium is used in catalytic converters installed in automobiles to
reduce emissions.

Legislation requiring a palladium version passed
the House unanimously on Thursday. In the Senate, a similar bill is
pending before the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

"This coin is another great way to put Montana on the map,'' said
Sen. Max Baucus, who sponsored the Senate bill along with Sen. Jon Tester,
his fellow Montana Democrat. "Palladium is unique to the Big Sky state.
Producing this coin will help create good-paying jobs and help boost the
state's economy.''

"The resulting increase in (palladium) demand
will provide a boost for Montana's mining families and the local
community, and that's a great move,'' Rehberg said.

Arthur Shippee forwarded this article about a find of two
rare Byzantine gold coins in Egypt.

Two rare gold coins from the
reign of Emperor Valens have been unearthed in Egypt. Archaeologists from
the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) carrying out a routine
archaeological survey at Sail Al-Tofaha area, west of Saint Catherine's
Monastery in Sinai, have chanced upon two gold Byzantine coins bearing the
head of Emperor Valens (364-378 AD). A number of grotto caves and
fragments of clay and glass have already been found in the area.

Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the SCA,
described this discovery as unique because it is the first time that
objects linked to that emperor have been found in Egypt. "Coins of Valens
were previously found in Lebanon and Syria," Hawass said, adding that
remnants of walls along with fragments of clay, glass and porcelain dating
to the same era were also unearthed.

On the obverse side is an
image of Emperor Valens wearing his official attire and an ornate crown
decorated with two rows of pearls surrounding a gold cross. The reverse
shows the emperor in military attire, holding in his left hand a staff
with a cross and in his right a ball surmounted by a winged
angel.

An article yesterday in the Hamilton Spectator describes
the efforts of a team in Canada to manufacture a new military medal for
that country using the traditional lost-wax process.

There's a lot
of the 19th century in Canada's newest military medal.

The Canadian
Victoria Cross is made using the same methods, awarded for the same
reasons, and even uses some of the same metal that went into the British
original, dating back to 1856, during the reign of its creator, Queen
Victoria.

The design is virtually identical but for the addition of
fleurs-de-lis and a change from the English inscription "For Valour" to
the Latin "Pro Valore."

After more than 15 years in the making --
from design consultations to its final ribbon-mounting -- the medal was
unveiled to the public yesterday. In the audience was metallurgist Peter
Newcombe, who grew up in Flamborough and manages the research foundry at
the federal CANMET materials laboratory in Ottawa -- a lab that usually
develops materials and techniques for use in industry.

Newcombe was
one of the core group of four, and part of a broader team of 19, who
created the alloy and physically produced the medal itself, using a
traditional technique called lost-wax, or investment casting, in which
liquid ceramic material is poured around a wax model. After it hardens,
the wax is melted, leaving a ceramic mould.

The entire process,
including the recipe for the alloy that makes up the Victoria Cross, is
shrouded in secrecy, meant to protect the integrity of the rare and
oft-copied medal.

Original Victoria Crosses were made using metal
from the cascabels of two cannon (the cascabel is the knob at the rear)
captured from the Russians in the Crimean War.

The British
contributed a slice of their diminishing and closely guarded supply to be
incorporated into the Canadian alloy. In addition, an 1867 Confederation
medal was melted into the mix. The other ingredients in the alloy are
Canadian metals, primarily copper, gathered from every corner of the
country.

The team made 20 Victoria Crosses in all, documenting the
process in case it ever needs to be repeated. The medals and ingots of the
special alloy are stored in a vault at Rideau Hall.

This story from the Los Angeles Times describes the bust of
a counterfeiting operation making high-quality queer. The counterfeiters
used hairspray on their bills to fool anti-counterfeiting pens.

On
Tuesday, federal authorities announced that Stroud and four other men have
been arrested and charged in connection with a massive counterfeiting
scheme that U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien called "one of the largest, if
not the largest, counterfeit currency rings we have seen in Southern
California."

The ring is responsible for printing
and distributing nearly $7 million in bogus currency over the last two
years, authorities said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Tracy L. Wilkison,
the prosecutor on the case, said it was unusual not just because of the
amount of money, but because agents were able to go up the food chain in
their investigation.

"Most of the time what we have is a handful of
poorly crafted bills in small amounts," she said. "When we're able to
trace it all the way back to the source and stop the printing, that's a
big coup."

The bills, allegedly produced with computers and ink jet
printers, were of particular concern to agents because they had proved
difficult to detect and were passed in locations across the United
States.

A search of Talton's home turned up "a full-scale
counterfeit currency manufacturing plant" and more than $1 million in
completed and partially completed fake bills, according to an affidavit
filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Among the evidence found in
the baldheaded suspect's trash were 20 bottles of Aqua Net and White Rain
hair spray.

Authorities say the hair product is commonly used to
coat fake bills to block the counterfeit-detecting pens used by
merchants.

As he was being taken into custody, Talton admitted that
he had printed between $5 million and $6 million in fake currency,
authorities said.

Last week I published a brain teaser forwarded by Dave
Bowers: "If you can figure out what these words have in common, you are a
lot smarter than I am."

Banana

Dresser

Grammar

Potato

Revive

Uneven

Assess

Bob Leuver answered "The second letter in each
word is the same as the last letter of the word."

Jim Davis picked
up on the "mass of doubled letters", as did Joseph D. McCarthy who writes:
"The obvious answer is that each word contains TWO sets of letters that
are each used TWICE."

Bob Laetare writes: "Your word puzzle was
easy, or else I am completely wrong. All of the words have two sets of
double letters."

True, but there's more to it than that. Carl
Honore was very close - his answer was the same as mine. He writes: "Each
word begins with a letter followed by a palindromatic figure; the rest of
the word can be read forwards or backwards."

Martin Purdy and Pete
Smith were close as well. Martin writes: "Take away the first letter and
you have a palindrome in each case." Pete adds: "There is a connection
with numismatics - some banknotes have palindromic serial numbers. These
are also called "radar" notes for obvious reasons. As Christopher figured
out, all the words in your brain teaser are pallandromes with an added
letter in front."

Joe Boling nailed it with a very succinct
explanation, which was how my son Christopher answered it. Carl, Martin
and Pete's answers are arguably identical to this one, but Joe's response
is closest to how the author of the quiz described the answer. Joe writes:
"Move the first letter to the back and read it right to left - same
word."

Rich Mantia writes: "I got it now. That's really intense!
That's why Dave is at the top of the writer's pool. I was only looking at
words that acted as RADAR's in relation to currency. Reversing the word by
moving the first letter is truly a MENSA question. Congrats to Mr. Bowers
for beating me at a game of 'Stump the Chump'. I really enjoyed
it."

Nick Graver's wife Marilyn solved it as well. Many thanks to
everyone who participated.

Marshall Brain's "How Stuff Works" web site is one of my
favorite places on the web. An article published this week addresses the
age-old question, "What if I threw a penny off the Empire State Building?"
-Editor

You might have heard the tale about a person
who, standing on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, throws
a penny and makes a wish. In the story, the penny falls and kills a
pedestrian on the sidewalk below.

This is one of those classic
urban legends that is untrue but contains a grain of
truth.

Throwing a penny off the Empire State Building wouldn't kill
someone. A penny only weighs about a gram and it tumbles as it falls.
Because of the tumbling and the light weight, there's so much air
resistance that the penny never really gathers that much speed before it
hits its terminal velocity. A gram of weight traveling at a relatively
slow speed might hurt a little if it hit you on the head, but it's not
going to kill you.

The grain of truth embedded in this urban legend
is the fact that falling objects -- even ones that seem harmless -- can do
a lot of damage. That's why people on construction sites wear hard hats.
If a big nut or bolt weighing 50 grams (about 1.8 ounces) falls and hits
you on the head, it's going to do some serious damage, and depending on
the height it falls from, it could definitely kill you if it hit right on
top of your skull.

A 1-gram penny falling from the Empire State
Building might reach 100 miles per hour. It has a little less than 1
foot-pound of energy when it hits, and just hurts a little.

If a
50-gram nut, or a roll of pennies weighing 50 grams, were to fall from the
Empire State Building, it would fall about 1,000 feet. Ignoring air
resistance, it would reach a velocity of about 250 miles per hour. That
gives it energy of about 100 foot-pounds, which is fatal if it hits you on
the head. If you're wearing a hard hat, however, you'll survive.

The "Boing Boing" blog is a popular source of offbeat
items, and this week the blog noted an interesting collection of images
over on the Flickr site (the same site we use to host E-Sylum images).
-Editor

"Flickr's Joe D! has a laugh-out-loud set of 75
"refaced" US bank-notes, in which the various dead presidents are
reinvented as a series of ever-funnier defacements."

"i'm surprised
how much everyone likes this. it's just something i've been toying around
with every now and then, it all started when i would draw To read the original Boing Boing article,
see: Hilarious
money doodles glasses or beards on money with the counterfeit pen on
the registers at work and just grew in to a hobby. also, keep in mind that
a lot of these were taken with camera phones or in low lighting moments
before i had to spend them (i'm a poor college student, of course i spent
them, i can't afford to keep a collection of twenties
somewhere)."

How's this for a story with an international flavor? It's
from a publication in China about a Vietnamese man in Norway bilked by a
Frenchman. P. T. Barnum was right: there's a sucker born every minute.

A Vietnamese man in Norway who believed that mixing cash with a
special liquid could double its value suffered in fact a loss of 35,000
U.S. dollars, according to media reports Monday.

This unidentified
man was told by a 32-year-old Frenchman that if he mixed the real cash
with blank bills and then marinate them in a special liquid for one night,
he would have double the amount of the cash.

The gullible
Vietnamese believed the Frenchman's story and gave him 180,000 kroner (35,
000 U.S. dollars). But when he prepared to collect his money the next
morning, both the cash and the Frenchman disappeared.

It's old news now, but here are excerpts from a couple of
January 2008 articles in the McClatchy newspapers. Reporters investigated
the government's accusation that North Korea was responsible for the
"supernote" counterfeits and concluded that the evidence is "uncertain at
best." -Editor

Two years ago, as he was ratcheting up a campaign to
isolate and cripple North Korea's dictatorship financially, President Bush
accused the communist regime there of printing phony U.S. currency.

However, a 10-month McClatchy investigation on three continents
has found that the evidence to support Bush's charges against North Korea
is uncertain at best and that the claims of the North Korean defectors
cited in news accounts are dubious and perhaps bogus. One key law
enforcement agency, the Swiss federal criminal police, has publicly
questioned whether North Korea is even capable of producing "supernotes,"
counterfeit $100 bills that are nearly perfect except for some practically
invisible additions.

The
bills include the same optically variable ink, or OVI, that's used on the
number 100 on the bottom right side of the bill. This ink is based on a
highly specialized tint that's used on the space shuttle's windows and is
highly regulated; the color used on U.S. currency is exclusively made for,
and sold to, the United States. OVI ink gives the appearance of changing
colors when a banknote is viewed from different angles.

And that's
why many experts doubt that North Korea is making the supernotes.

The ink's maker, a Swiss firm named Sicpa, mixes the ink at a
secure U.S. government facility. A Sicpa spokeswoman in the United States,
Sarah Van Horn, declined to discuss the supernotes. But she offered an
important fact.

"We ceased all OVI deliveries (to North Korea) in
early 2001, and later in the year all security ink supplies," Van Horn
said in an e-mail.

That means that Sicpa cut off North Korea from
the high-tech inks well before the sting operations in 2005 that allegedly
involved North Korean nationals supplying supernotes and well before the
Bush administration publicly began accusing North Korea of making fake
$100 bills.

This week's featured web site is that of SICPA S.A.
the 80-year-old Swiss firm (Société Industrielle et Commerciale de
Produits Amon) which produces the specialized inks for intaglio printing
used by 80% of countries in the world.

SICPA is a multinational, multicultural company based in
Lausanne, Switzerland. We were founded in 1927 by Maurice Amon and grew
under the leadership of Albert Amon from a local Swiss company to a global
leader in security inks and integrated security solutions for banknotes
and value documents.